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Archive for November, 2016

Well, the end of the month, that is. And the end of NaNoWriMo. I haven’t added my words for today yet. But, I “won” on Friday with a little over 50k. And once I finish my words on Defending the Heart today, I’ll have met my goal of 11k on each of my 5 projects for the month. One of them(Stay a Little Longer), I managed over 13k on. So, I’d say it was a pretty good month. I may include my monthly update at the end of this post, but that will depend on how long this one is.

Before I get to any of that, it’s WiPPet Wednesday!! As I said above, I’m working on Defending the Heart today, so that’s what you’ll get a snippet of. Today I have 28 sentences(Taking the two 1s of the month away from the 30 for the day). Xavier was visiting with the men who taught him to fight/defend himself when he was a bullied teenager when Piers showed up at their gym. Turns out they’re also old friends of his father’s though there was a rift there. This is right after Piers leaves again.

“It’s my fault,” he said. “It’s all my fault.”
“I know,” Randy said. “But, it doesn’t make it hurt any less. The last fight with Felipe was my fault, too. And I still stomped out like a little spoiled child. Fault doesn’t always come into play.”
Xavier lifted his head from Randy’s chest. “Then, why did he have to apologize to you?”
The door creaked open, but Randy didn’t take his gaze from Xavier’s face. “Because it kills him to see me hurting. Even if I bring it on myself.”
“And my words added on to the hurt,” Felipe said before closing the door behind him. He came around in front of Xavier and leaned back against his desk. “You want to tell me what that was all about?”
Xavier shook his head and wiped his wrist over his eyes. These men had seen him at his worst and never judged him for his emotions. Still, he hated breaking down in front of them.
“I guess I’ll tell you then,” Felipe said. “He said you two served together. He is the one, isn’t he?”
Xavier knew he didn’t really need to answer that. Aside from Magdalene, these two were the only ones who knew about all his history with Piers. They were the only ones he’d felt he could confide in while he was in the Marines. And they’d been the example he’d hoped to follow when he got out.
Then, he’d been a great big coward.
“He’s the one,” Randy said, nodding over Xavier’s head. “I’d say that’s pretty obvious.”

Felipe and Randy popped up when I was writing out Xavier’s back story. It looks like they may end up being more involved in this than I’d figured on, though.

Now, for this week’s progress so far:

Write: 12500 words(sticking with this until I see how my time range goal works out)– 7189/12500 words so far. I should have at least close to 9000 by the end of today. Going to hold off on sharing snippets until Sunday.

In the Moonlight – 2958 words

Stay a Little Longer – 3085 words

Defending the Heart – 1146 words so far

Guarding the Heart – finish polishing– making progress on this. 38/50 words on the list done. Wanted to do more but these last few(particularly ‘was’) have taken longer.

Side Projects – Write 2000 words(since this will now include fleshing out Midas’ Daughter)– 1853/2000 words. Only one I haven’t worked on is Midas’ Daughter, and that’s mostly because I was outlining new scenes. I’m hoping to get some done on it today, though. As with the main projects, I’ll just be sharing snippets on Sunday from now on.

Dance with the Devil – 568 words

Snow White Twist – 624 words

Patrick & Sarah – 185 words

Tavin & Haiwee – 141 words

Roman – 136 words

Dougal & Shae – 199 words

Listen: She Can Tell(Melinda Leigh) & Soldier(Julie Kagawa)– I finished She Can Tell and enjoyed it. An hour into Soldier(out of about 11). Enjoying so far.

A-Z Challenge – yes I know I have several months before this happens, but I’m planning now. Already have 15/26 post titles figured out. Need to finish this and start planning the posts. This one is going to be a serial in my Riders of Justice series.:Haven’t made any more progress on this since the weekend. Hopefully I’ll get to that sometime this week.

A good bit of green there and nice to see some blue. Hopefully will get rid of the red before Sunday’s update. And I’ll have my monthly update tomorrow, I guess. I still have to write out next month’s goals anyway.

This will be the final teaser from Healing the Heart seeing as it releases this Friday. You can pre-order it if you’d like and be able to read it as soon as it’s out. For now, here’s a teaser:

Kaden yanked him close. “I don’t have your woman. If you don’t find her, she’s going to be dead. I’ll have to kill you both. I don’t know why, but I don’t want to do that. You’re a Coyote.” He sounded confused as if that was reason enough to want to. “Get out of here.”
He pushed Jared away from him, and he felt as confused as the boy looked, but he didn’t see this getting any better. He glanced over his shoulder but just made out the figure of a man in the car. Something about it seemed familiar. He couldn’t believe someone would drive something that fancy into this area of town. He’d sensed the urgency in Kaden’s voice, but he turned back to him and said, “This isn’t over. If I find out something happened to her, you’ll be the one to pay for it.”
Probably a mistake, but he turned his back on the young man and walked to his car. He didn’t even relax until he had driven out of the neighborhood. He shook and pulled over to the side of the road when he figured he was safe again. He laid his head back against the seat. He already felt the pain spreading through his ribs.
“Damn it.” What had this even solved? Melanie was still gone. He still had no idea where she was. Kaden’s words rang through his head. If you don’t find her, she’s going to be dead. No. He couldn’t let that happen, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the person who stepped out of that car. Who was that? Could it be…no. That didn’t make any sense. Why would he have tried to win over Melanie if he was behind these threats to her?
“Where are you, Melanie?” Feeling desperate, he took out his phone and dialed her number one more time. “Please answer,” he murmured when it started to ring. “I need to hear your voice.”

Last weekend we had snow. This weekend we have mostly mud. There’s still a few patches of snow out in the yard but not much. We’re supposed to have temperatures in the high 50s at the beginning of this week then possibly more snow by next weekend.

The Baron pup isn’t so much a puppy anymore. One year old now.

Even with the holiday, this week has gone pretty well. I got some words written Thursday morning but not as much reading as I’d hoped. But, I “won” NaNo on Friday. My new method of working on one story a day until a certain time seems to be going better than trying to work a little bit on each every day. So, I’m going to continue with that.

Neither of the stories I submitted for this year’s World Unknown Review were accepted(*sad face*) but I’m going to rewrite one of them, Midas’ Daughter, and flesh it out some more, then…do something with it. I wrote a scene from another character’s POV yesterday for my Stream of Consciousness post. And the other story, Goin’ Down, I’m posting scene by scene as part of my Fiction Friday posts. I don’t know if I’ll do anything else with it. But, we’ll see.

I don’t really have much else to say, so on with this week’s progress:

Write – 10000 words(cutting it back because of the holiday) – 12512/10000 words – I’d say I definitely met this goal

Defending the Heart – 1257 words – It was probably a mistake, but he stood up anyway. Declan wouldn’t let it go until he did something. He just hoped this wasn’t like purposefully heading into the enemy’s camp.

Crash and Burn – 3955 words – But, there had to be something he could do. He could at least warn her of the possible danger. They could take it from there. If she wanted to put distance between them, he’d step back. If she didn’t, he’d be grateful to stand by her side.

Not Meant to Be – 3880 words – Toby turned to look at her. “You didn’t tell him? What is wrong with you? That’s twice now this guy has come after you. Why won’t you ask for help?”
“I did,” she hissed back. “I asked you.”

Stay a Little Longer – 2332 words – “Down, girl,” she muttered. She’d made a promise to herself when Colby had shown his true colors. He wouldn’t change, not ever. And no matter how much she wanted a good man to share her life with, she couldn’t put her kids at risk like that again.

In the Moonlight – 1088 words – My stomach clenched at that, and I heard Yasmin practically growl behind me. A part of me wanted to deny it, deny anything more than friendship between us. But, even when I opened my mouth, the words wouldn’t come. How could I do that to her? She didn’t deserve it.

Guarding the Heart – Polish– got through 35/50 words to search for. Which was about 10 more than I had planned to. Another instance of a time goal(or range) seems to be working better.

Side Projects – Write 1500 words– 1779/1500 words. I’ve been setting a timer for 5 minutes to work on each of these(figure if I don’t get anything written in that time, it’s just not coming right then).

Dance with the Devil – 517 words – I shoveled two more bites into my mouth, which felt like they lodged right in my throat, before I just gave up. There was no way I could finish eating. Hawk’s hand on my leg during dinner had been the last straw. This had been coming for too long now. And yeah, I knew it was my fault it had taken so long. But, I couldn’t wait any longer. I really hoped Icarus wouldn’t want any of us to stick around down here after dinner.

Patrick & Sarah – 213 words – But, from the way she’d kept looking at the nosy townsfolk gathering at the end of the aisle, he thought it was more than that. And he’d remembered what that old crone the week before had insinuated about her. He didn’t buy it. Not any of it.

Tavin & Haiwee – 214 words – She smiled at Tavin but didn’t say anything before turning and bounding into the trees in front of her brother. He should know better than to expect her to follow along like one of his tamed dogs. And she was pretty sure that booming laugh that sounded behind her was Tavin’s.

Listen: Now That It’s You(Tawna Fenske) – I finished Now That It’s You yesterday. Really enjoyed this one. Decided not to pick Furious back up, but returned the Kindle Unlimited ones I’d listened to and borrowed more. So, I started Summer in Napa(Marina Adair) and really enjoyed it. I also listened to It Had to Be Fate(Tamra Baumann) and really enjoyed that one, too. I started She Can Tell(Melinda Leigh) yesterday.

Read: Finish Lead Me On(Victoria Dahl), If I Didn’t Care(Kait Nolan), Fly With Me(Chanel Cleeton), Rise of the Storm(Christina Ochs),To One Hundred(Melissa Blue),Fatal Secrets(Allison Brennan), Right Wrong Guy(Lia Riley), Anxious Love(Sydney Aaliyah Michelle), His to Protect(Elena Aitken), Bladelore(Krista Walsh), Raptor(Lindsay Buroker), & Perfect Fit(Carly Phillips)– I finished Lead Me On(really enjoyed) and If I Didn’t Care(loved). I loved Fly with Me, even though I sobbed from about 75%-probably 85% because of one of the side characters even though I’d kind of seen it coming. I finished Rise of the Storm yesterday and enjoyed it, though it seemed a lot of it might be set up for the rest of the series(which I got the second book for free by signing up for her newsletter. downloaded the link from my phone & can’t figure out how to get it to my kindle, so I may be reading it slowly as I have time on my phone). I also finished To One Hundred last night and really enjoyed it. I started Fatal Secrets but haven’t gotten too far into it yet.

Knit: Finish Polly Wolly Doodle Hat– Finished this yesterday.

Not so bad, though I wouldn’t mind less red in the reading. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.

Write: 12500 words(sticking with this until I see how my time range goal works out)

Guarding the Heart – finish polishing

Side Projects – Write 2000 words(since this will now include fleshing out Midas’ Daughter)

A-Z Challenge – yes I know I have several months before this happens, but I’m planning now. Already have 15/26 post titles figured out. Need to finish this and start planning the posts. This one is going to be a serial in my Riders of Justice series.

Welcome back to another visit with the Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop for anyone who likes to write. I’m still continuing with the scene I’ve been sharing from the last couple of weeks. Last week I left Hawk with his fist cocked back as if to hit Jumper. Picking up this week after Devil tries to stop him.

He looked over at me then, his eyes glazed over. This wasn’t the boy I’d known, or the man who’d brought me into the fold here. This was something else entirely, almost like he’d been possessed. I took a staggering step back from him, but he blinked and that look was gone from his face. He looked at me, and I swore that was anguish that came into his eyes.

“Damon,” he whispered, but I shook my head and turned for the stairs, jogging up them. What I’d seen in him scared me, and he’d never done that, not in that way, before. I’d seen that look, in my father’s eyes before he took off his belt, in Trace’s stepfather’s when we went to get Birdie, in those Crows’ before they tried to kick the shit out of me.

But, I’d never expected to see it in Hawk’s. I wasn’t sure what to think about it, and I couldn’t face it tonight, so I locked myself in my room, deciding to deal with the insomnia instead.

Just what did get into Hawk there(May not find out exactly until I write Hawk’s story, though I have a good idea)? What’s going to happen next? You’ll have to wait until next week to find that out. But, this is the end of the current scene.

Today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt is to use “pretty” somehow in the post. I was trying to figure out how to use it toward one of my current project, then another character started waving his arms around. I wrote “Midas’ Daughter” back in May for the Story a Day challenge. Then I revised it and submitted it for the World Unknown Review. Well, I heard back about that on Monday, and it wasn’t accepted(neither was my other submission unfortunately). But, I decided to take her comments on it and flesh it out some more, maybe even add in POVs from the other characters, and possibly turn it into a novella(maybe novellete if it falls short of novella length). Then…I don’t know. First, I have to rewrite it, then I’ll decide what happens next. but, today, I’ll be looking at events from another character’s perspective(without looking back at the original. right now, I just have the first line in my head).

He’d seen Calla walk past the stable not too long ago. Of course, she hadn’t even looked in here. He’d only been able to sneak peeks of her the last several days. She wouldn’t stay away by choice, so he knew exactly who was making it this way.

Not that he could ever have her. Old Man Midas had made that clear the first time he showed interest. He was just a stable hand and would never deserve her. Neither did that creep her father was currently pushing at her. The mare nudged his shoulder as if she sensed his mood. He patted her neck once more than moved toward the door to the stall. He had more chores to see to.

But, he’d barely made it halfway through the next stall before Ariadne pawed at the stall and snorted. she wasn’t usually high-tempered, so he knew something was up. He moved back toward her then heard the raised voices outside. He couldn’t make out any of the words, but he recognized one of the voices. Calla. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He wanted to do something, wanted to make everything better for her. But, what could he do? He knew what would happen if he made a scene out there. He’d be fired, and if she needed him he wouldn’t be here any longer.

He needed to be here just in case things went bad. And he couldn’t see them going good with the direction they’d taken.

The other voice rose even more, and Ariadne’s ear went back flat. His own chest felt tight, claws digging deep into him. “I know, pretty girl,” he said, trying to soothe the animal. “I don’t much care for him, either. But, the important thing is if Calla does.” He rubbed her neck, taking as much comfort from her as he was giving. This pain in his chest was almost too much to bear. But, he’d known for a long time that Calla was the only one who could take it away. “We’ve already chosen her. She just has to choose us back.”

And he was afraid that was never going to happen. It would mean fighting back against her father. And she’d never done that before. He’d offer her whatever strength he had to make sure she could do that. It just meant he had to stick around as long as he could. He wouldn’t give up yet. He would never give up on them until she made that choice.

I wrote this story earlier this year, and submitted it to the World Unknown Review, but unfortunately, it wasn’t accepted. I’ve thought about putting a few of my short pieces together into a collection and publishing. I might throw them up on their own, too, if I can figure out cheap covers. But, for now, I’m going to start sharing this one here. I’ll share one scene each week, which will take us through the next 5 weeks. There’s actually 6 scenes, but the last is pretty short, so I’ll include it with the previous one. For now:

I was drowning.

I knew it in every cell of my body. But, I didn’t know how to save myself. My lungs burned, my body thrashed, my muscles ached as I tried to kick to the surface. Something held me where I was. I couldn’t drag any air in. I was never going to make it, never going to see my husband again, never start the family we talked about.

I would die here.

A great burst of air and cold suddenly blew over me. I dragged in a breath then another. I wasn’t drowning. I wasn’t even in the water.

The bed shifted under me. “Why do you always insist on sleeping with the blankets over your head? You always have the same dream when you do.”

I heard the impatience in my husband’s voice and turned away before opening my eyes. Justin’s irritation wasn’t the first thing I wanted to see upon waking up from the dream.

The sun just rose over the trees. A much better sight to wake to.

“I don’t insist,” I finally said. “It happens when I’m sleeping.”

“Well, make it stop happening. I get tired of dragging you from it.”

I mumbled an apology, but he was already moving away. I didn’t even bother. I waited as his measured steps headed out of the room. I didn’t know what had happened to us. It was so hard to find the man I’d married in the one I still shared a bed with.

I wanted to get us back. I just had to figure out how.

I moved slowly through my morning routine, the dregs of the dream still clinging to me, making my limbs feel heavy. It was like I still struggled through that water. I don’t know why it was always water, why I was always drowning. I couldn’t remember ever living near the water or swimming anywhere but the community pool.

I’d never nearly drowned there. At least not that I remembered. And I’m pretty sure I would.

He was gone by the time I made it downstairs. I hoped coffee would help burn off the remainders of the bad dream. And maybe clear my head enough I could think of a way to get the husband I remembered back.

What do you think? I always appreciate any feedback. I’ll have the next scene in another week.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and today the kids only have half a day of school. No school tomorrow, Friday, or Monday(first day of hunting season is practically a holiday around here). I have mixed feelings about the holiday, especially the sanitized history we’re all taught. But, I won’t go into my rant on the treatment of Native Americans(and how it still hasn’t changed all that much) here. I may get dragged into that at my parents’ tomorrow or some other political discussion(I don’t seem to share many of my family’s views), but I’m really hoping to avoid that by taking my kindle and finding a quiet corner of the house.

Anyway, you’re either here today to read a snippet of a current work or to see my progress for the week so far(possibly both), so I’ll get to that. And I just changed my routine slightly. I had been working on each of my projects every day. And that’s been going okay. But, I’m going to try something different. Working on a different one every day. I’ve done this before, too. I’m going to write from the time I get up in the morning(usually sometime between 4-5) until 9 a.m. Then, I’ll wash dishes, workout(possibly), & get a shower before coming back to work on editing until lunch time. And I’ll take care of the rest of my to-do list in the afternoon. That break between the two seems to help switch my mind over. We’ll see how it goes.

Now, it’s time for another WiPPet Wednesday, where we share a snippet of a current work that somehow relates to the date. You can check out other snippets here. Today I’m working on Crash and Burn, so you’ll get a little more of Brann & Jaya’s story. I have 7 paragraphs(1+1+2+3) for today. A little context: Jaya works out of the fire station as a paramedic. Tony is one of the firefighters there, and he was giving Brann a hard time about wanting to see her(said maybe he should have called her/ brann didn’t have her number/ well maybe there was a reason for that). This picks up right after Brann being afraid the guy might have a point:

“Give it a break, Tony,” a voice said from the next bay over. Then, Jaya was stepping out from behind an ambulance. “I swear sometimes one of you is worse than both my brothers put together.”
Tony grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You know we love you.”
She shoved him away, but Brann could still see the smile flickering around her lips. “I’m still not dating you.”
“Well,” Tony said, “my wife in particular will be happy to hear that. I’m a little disappointed, though.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Stop being an idiot. You know I meant in general. Now, go away.”
Brann could feel the grin stretching his face. She came closer as Tony stepped back then finally turned away. “They certainly do act like big brothers,” he said.
“Which is only one reason I refuse to date any of them. I see enough of it at work. I’m not the kind of person that needs to be protected. I certainly don’t want the guy I’m dating to think he has to be some kind of shield.”

What does Brann think about that(he grew up with a sister with a similar mindset if that tells you anything)? Is Tony actually disappointed(hint: NO. He’s very devoted to his wife)? Are Jaya & Brann going to date(spoiler: Absolutely)?

Playing in all the snow we got over the weekend.

As for how things are going this week: Pretty good, actually.

Write – 10000 words(cutting it back because of the holiday) – 8632/10000 words. Definitely shouldn’t have a problem meeting this goal.

Defending the Heart – 1257 words – “You worry about a lot these days, Dec.” When his friend didn’t respond to that, Piers let out a long breath. “Why don’t you do it if you’re so concerned?”
“Because I’m not the one who’s loved him for the last fifteen years.”

Crash and Burn – 3955 words – “So,” he said, bringing his gaze slowly back up to her face. God, she was something. Keeping his hands to himself tonight might just be torture. “Where did you want to go tonight?”

Not Meant to Be – 1098 words – “He is not one of your criminals, Tobias. He’s a sweet sixteen-year-old boy who doesn’t have it all that easy at home. That’s why he spends so much time in that park where Jonas met him. He is always welcome in this house. I don’t want you to make him feel otherwise.”

Stay a Little Longer – 1234 words – “Ouch, Doren,” Erik said, though his amusement had turned to confusion. “I know you can hold a grudge, but that’s harsh even for you. Hell, you even let me at least speak to Cassie these days without threatening to break my remaining leg.” *I doubt Doren ever actually made that threat, but possibly close. Not that he would actually do it 😉 But, Erik really was an ass in high school, and Cassie was one of his favorite targets.

In the Moonlight – 1088 words – “What do you care? You brought your girlfriend with you, and you really think Mom will want to see you, want anything to do with you after that? You know how she feels.” *Nola’s sister is not very nice

Guarding the Heart – Polish– I’m through 15/50 words on the list for this. Hoping to get through at least 25 this week.

Side Projects – Write 1500 words– 751 words. Managed at least a few words on all of these.

Dance with the Devil – 243 words – I was afraid Icarus or even Bull would put me on the detail that was staying here with the Ladies. Worried they’d say that it was too dangerous when the Crows had already attacked me twice. I had all my arguments ready to go. I’d never cared about danger. Hell, I’d been in dangerous situations for years.

Snow White Twist – 124 words – “Hold on, princess,” she whispered hoarsely. “You hold on to that thread of life until I can make this right.”

Patrick & Sarah – 115 words – Her reputation in town was already set. That didn’t mean she needed to ruin his as well.

Tavin & Haiwee – 25 words(would have been more, but I was doing some research) – Eydyami nodded and waited for him to go on.

Roman – 148 words – Roman leaned over the table until their faces were merely inches apart. They were so close, he could see the way the boy’s eyes glistened. His sister had definitely been a tender spot. He wondered if he could hit another one. And if he did, what way it would push Carlos.

Dougal & Shae – 96 words – Dougal knew he shouldn’t have made that comment. It had been inappropriate, and one of his new buddies certainly hadn’t appreciated it. Obviously they knew the woman somehow. Just as co-workers? Or maybe there was more between them. Were they together or something? *or, you know, her brother.

Listen: Now That It’s You(Tawna Fenske), I may pick Furious back up if I finish before I get my next credit on Friday.– I finished Now That It’s You yesterday. Really enjoyed this one. Decided not to pick Furious back up, but returned the Kindle Unlimited ones I’d listened to and borrowed more. So, I started Summer in Napa(Marina Adair) and enjoying it so far.

Read: Finish Lead Me On(Victoria Dahl), If I Didn’t Care(Kait Nolan),Fly With Me(Chanel Cleeton), Rise of the Storm(Christina Ochs), To One Hundred(Melissa Blue), Fatal Secrets(Allison Brennan), Right Wrong Guy(Lia Riley), Anxious Love(Sydney Aaliyah Michelle), His to Protect(Elena Aitken), Bladelore(Krista Walsh), Raptor(Lindsay Buroker), & Perfect Fit(Carly Phillips)– I doubt I’ll get through all of these. I’m already about 2 books behind. But, we’ll see how the next 2 days go. I could catch up. I finished Lead Me On(really enjoyed) and If I Didn’t Care(loved). I’m a little more than halfway through Fly With Me and enjoying it.

Knit: Finish Polly Wolly Doodle Hat– I’m a little more than half through the main part of the hat.